1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to filtration and purification systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a treatment apparatus and closed-loop methods to treat an effluent containing at least one contaminant that is to be removed, at least in part, from the effluent and neutralized.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The issues and problems of disposing of effluents containing contaminants, wherein the disposal must be environmentally safe and non-polluting, are well known. Also well understood is the need for improved and full featured means and methods for filtering and or treating such effluents, in an inexpensive way so as to provide a resulting volume of liquid (treated effluent), and an associated molecular filtering material (providing the treatment medium) that may be discarded or disposed of in a manner consistent with that of non-toxic waste. The contaminants typically found in common effluents may include heavy metal molecules (e.g., cadmium), petroleum product fluids, alcohol and glycol molecules, and other known toxins. It would be most desirable to be able to treat such effluents to reduce the level of such contaminants to acceptable levels (as specified, for example, by government agencies) to enable low cost disposal and or recycling of the effluent as well as the spent volume of molecular filtering material.
There are presently a number of known materials that are employable with a variety of filter and treatments systems. These materials include activated carbons, activated alumina, silica, and the like. However, a preferred molecular filtering material may be provided by one or more known Zeolite substances. Zeolites, unlike activated carbon and activated alumina, have a regular and ordered crystalline structure and consequently possess pores of uniform diameter, typically in the range of 3 A to 10 A. The regular structure of molecular filtering materials, such as zeolites, provides a complex network of apertures (of constant size) that operate to cage contaminate molecules to be removed (e.g., adsorbed) from the effluent. Skilled artisans will appreciated the characteristics and functional molecular filtering capabilities of zeolite `molecular sieves`, especially their long term stability wherein contaminants are contained therein and effectively neutralized. This is especially true when considering leaching over a long period of time, even when exposed to caustic and acidic solutions. A particularly preferred molecular filtering material, which may treat an effluent containing a plurality of contaminates, may be provided by a mixture and blend of molecular filtering materials, including a variety of zeolite materials.
There are two commonly utilized methods used to apply molecular filtering materials (MFMs) to effluents. The first is to simply place a volume of the MFM in a container, possibly the storage or holding container, and mix and homogenize the mixture. The mixing may be performed by hand, say using a paddle or shovel, or may be provided for by power assisted hand-holdable mixing devices. Alternately, conventional mixing devices, such as cement-like mixers, may be employed to homogenize the mixture of effluent and the associated MFM. This first method can be labor intensive and time consuming. In addition, the effluent will typically have to be transferred from a holding vessel to, for example, a treatment container or the cement-like mixing device. For safety reasons, the transfer of the raw, untreated effluent is not desired. Further, the homogenized mixture is required to `sit`, while the adsorption or occlusion process completes, for many hours, and in some instances for as long as 3 days or longer. The latter temporal period being considered prohibitive to the rapid treatment of large volumes of effluent in an efficient and safe manner.
An alternate method known to treat effluent, particularly suited to large volumes of effluent, is typified and possibly improved upon by U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,630 to Romano. Romano teaches using an apparatus having one or two pumps, along with one or more complex tank arrangements comprised of a `stack` of cylindrical members. The effluent is drawn from a storage means (shown as a pool in FIG. 4 of Romano) and caused to flow through one or more tank stacks, in succession. The treated effluent is then passed to a second storage tank or a suitable means to receive the treated fluid, possibly via a second pump. It may be noted, as disclosed in the preferred embodiment of FIG. 4 of Romano, the second pump 69, seems to be required for practical operation of the disclosed system. Although the Romano invention seems to provide a method and means to significantly reduce the labor involved with treatment activities, it is limited in several other respects. First, as disclosed, it includes a complex tank structure to effect the treatment of the effluent. This complex tank arrangement is costly and requires a significant amount of time to setup before treatment activities can be conducted, and possibly requires an equal or greater amount of time to disassemble after treatment to remove the spent treatment materials employed. This temporal overhead is primarily due to the significant number of `cylindrical compartment members` that compose each tank structure and the requirement that each member be accessed individually. It can be noted that the Romano invention appears to include the complex tank structure to enable a "single open loop pass" of the effluent through the system to contact a sufficient volume of filtering material to appropriately treat the effluent. Accordingly, the Romano apparatus requires a significant volume of `zeolite pebbles` be employed and provides no guarantee that the zeolite or other employed molecular filtering material has been fully spent. As such, the Romano apparatus may result (possibly often) in the under usage of the actual available capacity of the molecular filtering materials employed. Indeed, with the open-loop system disclosed by Romano, a conservative operator would prefer an excess volume MFM be utilized for a treatment operation, rather than too small a volume--for obvious reasons.
Skilled persons will therefore recognize the need for improved treatment systems, and associated methods of use, to effectively and efficiently support the treatment of varying effluents. Objects of the present invention are, therefore, to provide new and improved apparatus and methods to treat a volume of effluent containing at least one contaminate, wherein the treatment activities reduce said contaminant(s) to acceptable levels, having one or more of the following capabilities, features, and/or characteristics:
includes fluidic conduits providing for a closed-loop arrangement wherein an effluent is drawn from a holding vessel, pre-filtered, appropriately treated, and returned to the original holding vessel, repeatedly, as required for full and though treatment; PA1 the closed-loop characteristic minimizes the `open air` contact of raw effluent during the treatment process; PA1 full and complete use of a volume of molecular filtering material, or possible equivalents, to effect the reduction of the at least one contaminant contained in a volume of effluent; PA1 treatment tanks enable the internal, forced and efficient contacting of the effluent with the surface areas of the volume of molecular filtering material; PA1 low cost tank units having very simple construction; PA1 pre-filter provided to protect at least one integral pump unit, and other effluent contacting components; PA1 safety features including a shunting pressure regulation and bypass arrangement to effect the effluent treatment at or below a pre-selected (and safe) pressure; PA1 provides for closed-loop bypass and complete containment of possibly partially treated effluent in the event of an over-pressure situation in one or more selected tank units; PA1 controller or microprocessor based apparatus supporting automated and or automatic operation; PA1 incorporates a modular, advanced manifold and valve assembly that greatly reduces the space (volume) typically required to house an equivalent component providing the same functionality; PA1 tank units equipped with vacuum breaking devices to enable the rapid forced removal of the tankage from one or more selected tank units that are to be drained; PA1 embodiments may be arranged to support the draining and replacement of the MFM of one tank unit, while other tank units are actively treating effluent; PA1 flow metering to determine the volume of effluent that has flowed through the tank units, and contacted one or more volumes of molecular filtering material contained therein; PA1 relatively low cost, and modular design, using a number of known, low cost, and readily available components and devices.
The above listed objects, advantages, and associated novel features of the present invention, as well as others, will become more clear from the description and figures provided herein. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the invention, limited only by the scope of the appended claims.